What I Mean by “Intelligentsia”
on Robert Williams, underground comics, and my aspirations for writing in this scene
Recently, upon submitting a piece called “Gator Pit” to the Last Estate for publication, I tweeted perhaps too confidently and ambitiously that it was “CNF for an underground intelligentsia.” This led to a little bit of confusion which I would like to attempt to clarify.
The Last Estate is a new publication online that more or less specializes in non-fiction about culture and the arts. This definition doesn’t exactly cover it but it’s a good generalization. The Last Estate is loud, psychedelic, darkly humorous at times, varied in its topics, and somewhat incestuous for better or worse, as its writers don’t get there by submission, as they do at many venues, but by pitching story ideas. So far it has exclusively published works by a limited number of writers.
I wasn’t saying specifically that the Last Estate was a publication for an underground intelligentsia, but that this is the kind of thing I would like to write and contribute. I think the word “intelligentsia” trips some people up. It conjures images of hyper-educated people meeting in a loft for a wine and cheese party talking about French cinema. That’s not quite what I mean. The intelligentsia I’m talking about is one that is “underground,” not belonging to any establishment or larger culture. This intelligentsia is more of a renegade one that has spun out of the literary environment around Misery Tourism and the adjacent neighborhoods.
In 2015 there was a presentation at City Lights the famous San Francisco bookstore where some of the original artists of Zap Comix were being feted. At this event the artist Robert Williams spoke about the intended audience of Zap Comix. Watching the whole video is recommended and very eye opening, but around 36:30 for the next few minutes he starts talking about the purpose of the comic book, and he brings up the “i word.”
Just to further highlight the point, Robert Williams on another panel discussing underground comics in LA. Starting approximately at 13:30 he again makes mention of the target audience, the intelligentsia. Again, watching the whole video repays your attention but the segments where Robert Williams is speaking are particularly valuable.
Elsewhere (I will spare you another video of Williams talking) he speaks of the “hip underground intelligentsia who would really get it,” meaning the joke, the reference, the vibe. The limited audience for whom it would make sense. That’s who I would like to write for, and that’s what I meant by, in this case, my aspirations for my output for the Last Estate, and in the wider publishing world in general. I have always wished I could have taken part in an underground comics scene, similar to that of Robert Williams, and Misery Tourism and Last Estate and the online environs are the closest things to that.